Lifestyle in many parts of the world today is characterized by an enormous meal and “between-meal” intake of calories (e.g. from solid food and snacks as well as drinkable calories), often associated with or provoked by multiple temptations of an “adipogenic”, sedentary and calorie-laden environment and shortage of physical exercise.
This lifestyle is often referred to as “western world lifestyle”, and it is generally regarded as unhealthy. Our food earlier consisted of an average of 10% protein, 30% fat and 60 carbohydrates; the carbohydrates mostly in the form of slowly absorbed carbohydrates. The food and especially the between-meal snack consumed today often has a much higher amount of quickly absorbed carbohydrates and fat. The amount of quickly absorbed carbohydrates may be measured as the glycemic index or as the fraction of mono- and di-saccharide of the total amount of carbohydrates. The excess intake of quickly absorbed carbohydrates and/or high fat leads to reduced feelings of hunger and to increased stress. Also, some human beings have cravings for sweet and/or fat food, sometimes enhanced by stress or premenstrual tension, or they may have psychological problems manifested as binge eating or compulsive eating habits.
As a consequence of this western world lifestyle, eating behavior, food or taste preference and/or the psychological disorders described above there is a general excessive intake of food, especially of highly caloric unhealthy food, like sodas, juice, chocolate milk, sweetened coffee, candy, chocolate, cake, biscuits, crackers, french fries, burgers, white bread with jam or jelly or honey, chips, sweet and fat cereals.
Therefore, in addition or in alternative to conventional weight management algorithms like diet, exercise, behavioral or lifestyle modification or—especially in case of extremely obese subjects—bariatric (weight-loss) surgery, there remains a need for further options for weight management by pharmaceutical or pharmacotherapeutic interventions, such as for managing, treating or preventing weight gain, overweight, obesity or other (metabolic) diseases or disorders associated or related therewith, for promoting weight loss, for controlling body weight, for changing eating behavior, for regulating food or taste preference and/or for maintaining or adjusting adequate balance of healthy and unhealthy food consumption e.g. to meet individual's established nutritional requirements and a healthy nutritional lifestyle.